The Importance of Becoming a Narcissist

Chapter Three

April Winning(POV)

"You've barely touched your food and the bus will be here soon."

I was startled out of my stupor by my mother, who was fixing breakfast at the stove for my little brothers. She was staring right into my face, probably wondering why I had barely said a word to her all morning.

I looked away, the dread of today bubbling in my stomach.

I felt miserable, and looked it too. My hair was even messier than usual, my skin clammy and pasty. I didn't even bother to iron my uniform that night before, and so I was pretty sure I resembled a sleep-deprived, hurricane survivor.

My dad was scribbling away at his blueprints for a new building that was scheduled to be built downtown in a few months, so it was as if he wasn't even there. He'd barely noticed how out of it I was.

"Good morning," my mom said to him, nonetheless. "Did you take a look at that cable box in the living room that you were supposed to set up three days ago?" she said sweetly.

He didn't catch her tone. "That's nice, honey."

"Mommy, he's working," my little brother said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, he can't hear you," said his twin.

"Daniel," she hissed at my father, ignoring the twins.

"That's nice, honey."

Li and Hao giggled under their breaths, earning pursed lips form my mother.

"Eat," she commanded each one of us.

I looked down at my cereal bowl which then looked like a pile of mush and promptly pushed it away. "I'm not really that hungry." I wasn't happy about it, but it looked like I was going to school on an empty stomach.

"Why? You still have a few more minutes." my mother protested, finishing up the eggs and placing it on the table. Li and Hao scorched down most of them in minutes.

I groaned inwardly, reluctant to tell her what had been eating me alive all weekend. I had been bottling it up for so long that at that moment I realized that if I didn't tell someone I was going personally check myself into a psychiatric hospital. Besides, I could tell that I my mom was all but dying for me to "express myself" already. She was silent and patient, but her eyes were full of curiosity. She was a school counselor, after all.

I took a deep breath. "Well...there's this boy."

She gasped, surprised and excited. "A boy--as in boyfriend?"

Hao, the quieter more thoughtful of twins looked up at me, a big milk-stache on his upper lip. "You have a boyfriend?"

My dad, who had been immersed in his architectural plans over on the counter, suddenly came to life. "Who has a boyfriend?"

I sighed. "No one, Dad. I was talking about this boy in my class that I can't stand. We're working together for the school play."

"Oh," his shoulders slumped in relief as he took a sip of his coffee and returned his attention to his work. "That's nice, honey."

"Trust me, Dad. He is not nice. He is infuriating and rude and...just irritating. You have no idea what I have to deal with," I vented.

My mother smiled. "...Are you sure you're not in love with him?"

Li was in the middle of taking a sip of his milk when he burst out laughing. Hao just looked disgusted.

"Mom. This is serious!" I replied, hysterical.